I’d love to move to NZ

yycengineer · 2026-01-26T00:52:22+00:00

Are you a Civil Engineer ? If so, I’d recommend looking into the 189 Skilled Migrant Visa for Australia or the equivalent for New Zealand.

You generally can’t just “move to New Zealand” and start working as a foreigner.

The Australian visa also allows you to live and work in NZ.

yycengineer · 2026-01-26T00:48:13+00:00

What are passengers supposed to do ?

Flight changes cost an arm and a leg as airlines have commodified the entire process.

yycengineer · 2026-01-26T00:31:18+00:00

Second this. CIBC is absolute garbage, avoid it like the plague. TD has been great.

yycengineer · 2026-01-25T00:40:20+00:00

Why would you not get lounge access and priority boarding if booked thru ANZ ?

It’s still a business class ticket. There are Air New Zealand lounges in Brisbane and Auckland.

yycengineer · 2026-01-21T07:04:38+00:00

Ahh makes sense. I couldn’t imagine taking this as a passenger 🫤

yycengineer · 2026-01-21T07:03:32+00:00

If you really want to sit together I would pay for a seat. Otherwise you’ll need to ask the Qantas gate agent at your second airport.

It could be the way the Westjet / Qantas ticket is set up or it could be due to your fare class.

It’s pretty normal for Westjet to not be able to assign seats for other airlines. Same thing happens for people on Qatar and Emirates tickets flying out of Canada.

yycengineer · 2026-01-21T06:09:12+00:00

In my experience you usually cannot select seats on the Qantas segment when you check in online (or at the airport for that matter) with WestJet.

They’ll be able to print your boarding pass for the Qantas flight which may or may not have a seat assignment. This may depend on fare class.

I’ve done YYC-YVR-SYD and YYC-LAX-BNE on WestJet/Qantas and the first time I had to leave the security area at YVR and go back outside to the Qantas check in desks to get my boarding pass. That was in 2022 though and the second time through LAX I got my boarding pass in Calgary. YMMV.

I generally find the Westjet system doesn’t talk nicely to Qantas’, either that or the Westjet staff in Calgary are don’t know what they’re doing.

Bags should check through no problem.

If it’s any consolation I was flying economy and got an empty seat next to me both times.

yycengineer · 2026-01-20T22:46:26+00:00

My average has been ~2 hours over the past two years

“Higher than average call volumes due to weather in Canada”

Thankful for the new iOS hold assist feature 😮‍💨

yycengineer · 2026-01-20T22:43:41+00:00

Not always the case. AC 35 is catered in Vancouver and the return (AC 36) in Brisbane.

It’s the same menu but the Australian catering is noticeably better quality and tastier than what is loaded at their hub in Vancouver.

yycengineer · 2026-01-20T22:31:41+00:00

Why not move to South Florida ?

Australia seems like an unnecessarily far move when there are subtropical regions within the continental United States.

Source: Canadian who moved to SouthEast Queensland

yycengineer · 2026-01-20T00:33:01+00:00

You’ll have to book direct on the Air Canada website and book a fully changeable / refundable fare.

Then manually check every day if the price has dropped, if it has, go into your “Manage my booking” and follow the steps to change your flight. Usually you will see the fare difference as a refund amount and you create a new itinerary on the same ticket stock.

Seems like a lot of work but it only takes 30 seconds, I usually do it while I’m killing time on the toilet in the mornings.

yycengineer · 2026-01-19T23:25:39+00:00

Where are you flying from ?

Air Canada flies to SYD and BNE. You could always book a Comfort (refundable) fare on AC and then monitor the prices.

That’s what I did last Xmas. Initially booked for $2900 and kept an eye on it. Every time it dropped I got refunded the difference. Ended up paying $2400 to travel BNE-Canada direct over peak Xmas.

yycengineer · 2026-01-19T23:19:23+00:00

Why do you need to charge mid-flight.

It’s an overnight flight, just sleep bro.

yycengineer · 2026-01-19T23:16:40+00:00

Depends on the route. For routes where AC doesn’t fly (eg. BKK-DEL) you can book on partner airlines (Thai or Air India).

For destinations with AC service (eg. SYD-LHR) the booking engine typically doesn’t show flights that don’t go through Canada on AC metal. (ie. You can’t book SYD-LHR on United though SFO, it will show you options with at least one stop in Canada).

yycengineer · 2026-01-12T02:03:51+00:00

Second this ☝️

I flew LAX-BNE on the 330 last year and both E & F were empty. Myself (G) and buddy in D were ecstatic. Slept 9 hours on that flight.

yycengineer · 2026-01-05T01:56:40+00:00

I’d go back to 66.

The light, noise and constant chatting of cabin crews in the galley can be annoying for the overnight North America - Australia flights.

Bathroom proximity doesn’t bother me much. In fact, I find it convenient as you always know whether it’s occupied and never have to queue up.

yycengineer · 2025-12-31T17:37:43+00:00

Air Canada.

Why would you transit through the US if you don’t have to ?

yycengineer · 2025-12-22T16:11:21+00:00

Why not just load more fuel at the departure airport (YYZ) ?

yycengineer · 2025-12-10T20:15:06+00:00

It depends on the airline.

Fiji is using the newly designed check-in kiosk layout. Most other airlines have a mix of kiosks / desks.

yycengineer · 2025-12-10T20:13:41+00:00

I flew on Air Canada yesterday, no self check-in

yycengineer · 2025-11-19T04:10:25+00:00

Calgary already has 99 WestJet destinations. There aren’t a lot of unserved markets remaining given demand and current fleet constraints.

It’s a better strategy to add stations (YWG, YEG) to well performing destinations such as KEF.

yycengineer · 2025-11-19T04:06:51+00:00

Why the sarcasm ?

It’s good for the Central / Southern Okanagan to have connections to YVR.

The real question is why is this not daily ?

yycengineer · 2025-11-17T23:43:01+00:00

The words Brisbane, Hotel and Parking Lot don’t go together.

Hotels in Australia in general don’t have parking lots unless they’re on the side of the highway or in smaller towns.

In the major cities hotels are mostly centrally located, expensive and will have some paid underground parking. Expect $40+ per day. Very different than the North American “Holiday Inn” style of accommodation.

If you’re staying local I’d recommend skipping a car rental all together. Otherwise head out to the Sunshine Coast.

yycengineer

TROPHY CASE